On January 29, Anand John, survived the fatal accident on the Bharrat Jagdeo Demerara River Bridge that claimed one life and while he is healing slowly from the injuries he sustained, he is in a lot of pain and discomfort.
John, 22 of Anna Catherina, West Coast Demerara, was the passenger in the taxi that was immediately behind the truck that caused the accident.
The driver of the truck apparently lost control and rolled backwards, resulting in a six-vehicle smash up and the death of the taxi driver, Scott Jacob Dorwart.
He suffered a fractured collarbone along with other minor injuries about his body and his hand has to be in a sling. The doctors told him that the fracture would heal by itself and does not require surgery.
John, a stocks worker at the New Hope Service Station, told Stabroek News that he worked the night shift and that around 9 am he called Dorwart to take him home.
He would usually take the bus on weekdays and hire Dorwart on the weekends and at times, to buy him dinner and deliver it.
On that day he decided to go by taxi because his clothes had gotten messy while working.
He sat in the backseat watching videos on his phone, while the driver was playing music. “We didn’t have any conversation throughout the ride or anything. When we were about to approach the bridge… I fell asleep… I was very tired… I took off my phone, put my head down in the car… and fell asleep. When the accident happened that is when I felt the impact. I hit the seat in front of me.”
He apparently lost consciousness and “when I catch back myself I was out of the vehicle and under the car. I didn’t know what hit us and how I came out the car… I know I was in an accident and that I was under a car. I didn’t even know it was the same car.”
John was having “shortness of breath because the vehicle was “resting on top of me.”
He called for help twice but his “voice was not coming out.” At that point, he heard a man raising an alarm that someone was under the car.
Other eyewitnesses helped to lift the car and then he was able to breathe properly.
John asked the man to get his phone from the car and he called his sister, Shenny John to inform her about the accident. She asked where the it took place, but he could not say.
The man then took the phone and told her that it was on the bridge. Days later while watching videos of the accident, John realized that the man was a passenger in the vehicle that was right behind the taxi.
An ambulance arrived after some time and transported him to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).
Along the way, paramedics took his vitals and administered oxygen.
He recalled that he was closing his eyes and the medical team thought he was losing consciousness and told him to keep his eyes open.
They kept talking to him, asking for his name, date of birth and other information.
He does follow up visits with the orthopedic doctor at the De Kinderen Hospital and was told that the fracture was healing.
He still experiences a lot of pain once the medication wears off, especially when he tries to turn his neck fully. He feels a “pull at the back of the neck if I look up and down.”
When he gets up from a lying position or stand for too long, he gets “swing head for a couple of seconds and dark eye. I can’t stand for very long either… I lose my balance.”
At the GPHC doctors had ordered X-rays and a CT-scan that showed “everything was alright but only the collarbone is the problem.”
He also suffers from severe knee pain and “sometimes I can barely walk…”
He gave a statement to the police when they visited him two days after he was discharged from the hospital. He has not heard from them again.
The owner and driver of the truck have not contacted him either.
John is thankful to be alive and is praying for his health to be restored soon so he can start working again.
